Jakarta. Indonesian shuttler Gregoria Mariska Tunjung won her first BWF World Tour title after defeating Pusarla Sindhu in the Spain Masters women’s singles final in Madrid on Sunday.  

Before Sunday, Gregoria has lost all seven matches against the Indian badminton star.

But the gloomy head-to-head record played no factor for Gregoria who took only 29 minutes to convincingly win 21-8, 21-8 over the Olympic medalist and former world champion.

The 23-year-old Indonesian took control throughout the match and immediately put her opponent on the defense from the start without giving Sindhu the chance to come back.

But she maintained respect for the opponent, saying that the result could have been different had Sindhu returned to her fitness after injury.

"Sindhu just returned after her injury and we all know it wasn’t her peak performance. I just played the best of my style and didn’t expect the result," Gregoria said.

"I’m very happy to stand on the top of the podium after a long wait since 2018,” she said, referring to the last time she won a trophy at the Finnish International Challenge.

The victory in Madrid meant a lot to Gregoria because she also outclassed former world champion Carolina Marin who played in front of her home crowd in the thrilling semifinal match a day earlier.

It’s been a steady improvement for Gregoria since the start of the year after she reached the semifinal at the Yonex Swiss Open earlier this month from two quarterfinal finishes in previous BWF tournaments.

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